


Articulate

by ShinyKipp



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Enjoy!, F/M, First Kiss, and some good good banter, slowburn, softness fluff 'n love, the long-overdue conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 07:57:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyKipp/pseuds/ShinyKipp
Summary: Articulation is the way by which performers transition between notes. Legato articulation indicates connected notes with a smooth continuity.#No fireworks erupt from where their lips touch. Barry’s world doesn’t get swallowed by sparks, and no flame of passion alights in him.Barry knows he loves Lup, and when he pulls her close, the gentle slip of their bodies feels like two notes tying together. The tension evaporates, the butterflies disperse, and peace settles over him as Lup sighs.When they finally pull apart, he keeps his arms around her. Her hands rest against his chest, and they stand, staring into each other's eyes as the orange sunset fades to blue twilight.





	Articulate

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to [Mango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/malevolentmango) for the beta read! You're a dear <3

_Articulation is_ _the way by which performers transition between notes. Legato articulation indicates connected notes with a smooth continuity._

_#_

It feels natural, playing with her. Barry’s hands move across the keys with a precision practiced and honed over the course of a year, long-forgotten techniques and musical theories coming back to him as he improvises.

Lup plays too, bowing over her instrument with long, clear notes. Her music flows and builds from him, and soon they’re rhapsodizing and improvising a cascading melody that winds and grows to fill the space of their practice chamber.

Barry smiles and slams into the next key change, bringing the piano to a breathing crescendo, and Lup sways through her rapid triplets, bow dancing on the updraft of energy.

They keep playing, winding down with their favorite motif, and Barry hits the last few chords while Lup strikes the tonic note.

They rest in silence for a moment, Barry reaching for a pencil to jot down a bit of what they improved on manuscript paper.

Lup comes over, violin still perched between her chin and neck. She flexes her fingers and prods his side with the bow. “Next time signal me if you’re gonna mess with the tempo, Bar.”

He leans away from the poking with a soft chuckle and puts his pencil down. “Yeah, will do, Lup.” His back cracks when he stands, and a few more beats of comfortable silence float between them.

She nods, pleased, and turns to put her instrument into its case. Her hair is long this year, and it cascades over one shoulder like a curtain of gold in the low evening light. Barry watches her, noticing the heave of her shoulders as she shakes out her arms, notices the paint on her fingernails and how it matches the violin’s glossy varnish, notices those sharp, intelligent eyes watching him, too—

“You’re beautiful,” he breathes softly. It’s not the first time he’s said it. It’s also not the first time he’s watched her eyes widen and her face flush while her ears perk up, but her reaction still fills him with the singular sensation of lightness. Silence comes again, but it’s different: a tension hangs in the air that Barry tries to laugh through. “And that was some great playing today!” He clears his throat with a cough and claps his hands together. “Uh, good job, team.”

Lup smiles, but the tension still hangs. “Yeah.” She relaxes a bit as she walks over to him and stands maybe a little closer than she needs to. A familiar, determined light shines in her eyes. “I really liked the way you played that last bit, this time.” Her tone is rolling and warm, as usual, but there’s an undercurrent of something else that has him transfixed.

Barry nods but doesn’t move. The soft orange light falling onto the floor from the room’s high windows pins him in place under her gaze. His mind runs, and he watches Lup’s eyes flick from his eyes to his lips for just a moment. They draw closer every day, he thinks, a silently acknowledged weight growing heavier and more potent with each passing note. They practice together from lunch until dinner most days, and afternoons in the conservatory do what nights in the lab could never accomplish. Barry feels his heart beat a little faster as she looks at him, and he thinks of how the music brings them closer, thinks of the story in their song.

Now it’s his turn to blush, and he tries to stammer out, “I—I guess you’re right, that’s enough for today—you put the violin away, and I can roll the piano back into the corner.” He rubs the back of his neck with one hand, the other coming up for a vague semblance of a shrug. “I’d better, uh, get on that, actually.”

Lup’s hands grab his. “Barry,” she says bluntly, and her eyes do that thing with his mouth again that has him taking a deep, grounding breath. “Come on, man.”

Her body is close, her _face_ is close, and he feels himself lean in. She’s asking a question he’s been trying to summon the courage to ask for years, and he’s nervous. “I think—it’s going to change things,” he says, and her breath brushes over his lips. “Lup, this changes things.” His eyes slip shut at the same moment that she says:

“I know.”

No fireworks erupt from where their lips touch. Barry’s world doesn’t get swallowed by sparks, and no flame of passion alights in him.

Barry knows he loves Lup, and when he pulls her close, the gentle slip of their bodies feels like two notes tying together. The tension evaporates, the butterflies disperse, and peace settles over him as Lup sighs.

When they finally pull apart, he keeps his arms around her. Her hands rest against his chest, and they stand, staring into each other's eyes as the orange sunset fades to blue twilight.

“I love you,” she says first, and it’s not new.

Neither is his lilting response as his hands settle on her hips: “I love you, too.” Any trace of anxiety vanishes, and he finds himself calm in the dimming light. “Can I...” He pauses between the words, not because he’s nervous, but because he wants the moment to last an eternity. “Can I kiss you again, Lup?”

She answers the question with initiation, and there’s an underlying feeling that’s new and growing as her hand comes up to run a finger over the shell of his ear. Barry sighs, and warmth builds under his cheeks as he pulls away to look at her. “Man, oh, man,” he chuckles, “I’ve got it bad for you, huh?”

She laughs too, her eyes narrowing with a flustered smile that rounds out her cheeks and makes her ears blush. The way her voice rolls makes his heart swell. “I could say the same about you, nerd.” She reaches up and taps him on the nose. “But yes, yes you do.”

Eventually, he pulls away, and they roll the piano to its resting place together.

On the walk back to the Starblaster, they move close enough that their fingers brush, knuckles dancing across the backs of each other’s hands.

#

Their performance goes off without a hitch. Lup nails every run of triplets and Barry feels the music breathe with life from the first measure to the last note. The tempo quickens and Barry indicates it with a swell of his shoulders that Lup can see and feel.

He pours himself into the playing, lets his admiration seep into every note, and when their duet ends, the stadium sits in silent awe.

And then their music is gone. Delivered to the light of creation, but her hand is _finally_ in his and he knows that he’s never letting go.

There’s no hesitation in Lup’s voice. “Barry, do you wanna go talk somewhere for a while?”

“Yeah.”

#

They practically fall into the practice room, and Barry sweeps her off of her feet into a wide circle over the threshold. “You were _amazing,_ Lup!” He cheers for her, his hands planted on her hips as he twirls her around. The prismatic embellishments on her dress catch the moonlight filtering  through the tall windows and cast refractions of stars on the ground. “That was perfect, you did such a great job.”

She laughs, and it fills the room with resonance and light. “ _You_ did a great job too, handsome.”

He finally puts her down, but his hands wind around her back to pull her into a close hug as she slips her arms around him. Their noses bump together, and he feels his bubbling glee simmer into a soft and lingering warmth.

The space between them is small and quiet. Somewhere far away, a pair of heels click across tile, and a metal spoon taps the edge of a glass cup.  

“I’ve loved you for a lifetime,” he says, quietly enough that they both notice the passing of the ambient noise. The spoon stops tapping, and the heels fade down a hallway. “I know we just like, told everyone, in a way.” Barry chuckles. “Even though I only—only just told _you_ the other day, but…”

She presses one slender finger to his lips. “I fell in love with you thirty years ago, Barry.” Her tone is level, and she looks at him through long eyelashes. “Do you know what that means?”

He wagers a guess: “That they’re gonna make fun of us for taking so long until the end of time?”

“No. Well, yes,” she sighs. “But no. It means, Barry...” She leans in. “That we have a lot of smooching to catch up on.”

His laugh is soft when it rumbles out of his chest. “Well, uh, shit,” he says, as eloquent as he can manage. “I guess we better address that, uh, that problem, huh?”

There’s no hesitation this time, and their second kiss is as perfect as the first.

She melts, her body slackens, and Barry suddenly supports most of her weight.

So he deepens the kiss, holding her against him like the precious treasure she is. It’s a gift to have her in his arms, he thinks, so he handles her carefully and deliberately as he presses a hand between her shoulder blades.

They seperate after a long moment, and when he opens his eyes, he sees Lup blushing, too.

“Wow.” Her gaze is dark and deep, and Barry holds her tight. He could lose himself in those beautiful eyes.

He realizes, belatedly, that he already has.

“Wow,” he agrees.

A wind chime rings in a nearby window, and the breeze sweeps through the practice room.

Lup explores; the way she ghosts her lips over his mouth to his cheeks to the creases near his eyes is curious and chaste.

“What’re we...” She kisses near his eyes again, trailing the affection to his brow and the tip of his nose before he catches her lips again, tilting her chin down with the faintest brush of pressure from his thumb. “What’re we gonna do now?” he asks, pragmatism and a flash of nervousness cutting through the pleasant haze of vocalized admiration. His hand moves to cradle her cheek, and the way she leans into his palm sends another pang of anxiety through him.

He’s touching her, he’s touching her and she’s _very_ close and she knows now—the full spectrum of his feelings lays exposed at her feet.

She’s only an inch or two taller than him, but Barry suddenly feels very small.

“Hey,” she calls him back, and the way her hand comes up, fearless, grabs his attention. “Don’t wig out on me now, Bluejeans. The hard part’s over.” Her long nails run into his hair and around his ear before she drops the touch to his shoulder.

Lup picks at the seam of his shirt. “I don’t know, though.” It’s barely a whisper. “Because, like,” she chuckles through the words, “this is ridiculous, what _are_ we, now?”

The windchime rings again.

“You’re my best friend, Barry, my research partner; I’ve literally died for you. Does ‘boyfriend’ cut it?”

Barry sighs.

“I’ve had this dumb crush for decades.” He runs his thumb over her cheek. She’s much softer than he ever imagined. “I couldn’t...I couldn’t figure out what to say, what to change, because what I had with you was what I wanted.”

“And now?” she entreats, and her smile is just a little mischievous.

“Now? I—”

She pulls herself closer somehow, and the crystals on her dress tap against his shoes. She leans her head on his shoulder and listens.

He rests his head against hers, swaying slightly in the practice chamber.

“I’m not—I don’t… I don’t know, Lup. I really don't, this is, uh, this is uncharted territory. Completely off the cuff, all of this, I’m, um.

“I just know that I want to be _something_ to you, Lup. Partner, boyfriend, h-husband, I don't—

“Whatever we are, whatever we decide to call this, I want it to be ‘us.’ I want to be yours.”

More quietly, then: “I want you to be mine, too.”

Her hands press into his back and she clings, nearly desperate. “Barry, I—I love you. More than, more than I even love _myself_ sometimes. I don’t know where this whole thing is going, but I’m serious when I say I _know_. I know that I want it to be with you.”

Their embrace tightens, and he thinks that their souls could meld in that moment. It would be easy; she’s already a part of him.

“Together it is, then.” He hums, smoothing a hand over the gossamer stretched over her shoulders.

Eventually they part, and the spell between them releases into a comfortable silence.

The wind blows a little colder, and they look to the door in synch.

It’s so easy to fall into step next to her, and their hands smoothly intertwine before they cross the threshold.

They wander the halls, talking about nothing as they turn down familiar vestibules. Night owl students pass them with soft interest, here and there, and they loop by a chamber where they hear two musicians trying to plunk through a now-broadcast song.

Eventually the conservatory seems empty, and Barry tries to blink the sleep from his eyes after a long yawn.

Lup giggles at him when he meets a question with a drowsy “Hmmm?”, and she turns, tugging him towards home.

“Do we tell them anything?” Lup changes the topic as they round a corner, shoes clicking across the tile. “Or do we just let them guess?”

“Let them guess.” Barry smiles back. “Or—or we can pretend that we _didn’t_ talk at all and _really_ mess with Taako.”

Lup laughs. “Holy shit, yes.”

Quiet wreaths the Starblaster when they return. Even as they pass Merle’s door, his usual snoring is absent. Barry’s bunk is only two doors down from the little alcove hosting Lup’s room, but the thought of separating gives them pause.

“I don’t want—” Barry starts, the words slow but sure. “I don’t want this night to end.” He smiles gently, and Lup’s fingers run over his knuckles. “This—I’ve waited years for this.”

Lup pauses, holding his hands and staring at the space between them. Her brows furrow with a contemplative focus.

“We don’t… We don’t need to keep waiting,” she says slowly. Her mouth forms around each word, pointed and deliberate, and she turns.

Lup swings the door open and moves down one step, then another, into the cabin room. Her other hand still clasps gently over his. “We don’t need to wait for anything ever again, Barry.” The third step, and he tries not to gape down at her as she snaps her free fingers and the lights in the room flare to life.

Her hair shines, her eyes sparkle, and he steps after her.

“The night doesn’t need to end, either.” She winks.

Barry chuckles. He’s a little happy, a little nervous, and a lot certain. “Are you sure?” he asks anyway, taking the second step. Then, with a mischievous smile: “Lup, this changes things.”

He nearly falls when she tugs him down the last step and into her arms. “Barry,” she teases, and her grin stretches her face with her obvious joy. “Come on, man.”

Barry laughs and lets the door shut behind him. Her arms wind around his shoulders, and her embrace feels like peace.

He’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on tumblr @ [Kippdom!](kippdom.tumblr.com)


End file.
